FH JOANNEUM International Student Project for West Afrika

Students of the bachelor’s degree program “Management of International Business Processes” already work on company projects during their studies. They have advised the Styrian company Komptech on its market entry in West Africa.

The students slip into the role of external consultants and go through the entire project cycle. © FH JOANNEUM / Maximilian Thum

Market analysis, international market entry, development of international business models – these are the topics that the students of ” Management of international business processes ” in the third and sixth semester deal with together with companies. The students slip into the role of external consultants and go through the entire project cycle – from the detailed planning, implementation and controlling of projects to the professional preparation and presentation of the results to the company. A teacher is available to the students as a coach. The time corset is very tight at twelve weeks and the project language is English. It is important to work quickly but intensively and according to the wishes of the customers and to deal with complex tasks.

Practice projects with real challenges

In the winter semester 2019/2020, third semester students worked on a market study for Komptech , The leading technology provider of machines and systems for waste treatment and processing. The aim was to investigate the market entry potential of six African countries and to provide the company with a basis for a decision for a potential market entry.

On site at the project partner Komptech. Foto © privat

Cooperation with University in Burkina Faso

In order to gain the best possible insight into the African market and to better determine the situation on the ground, the project members cooperated with students from BIT –Burkina Institute of Technology . The BIT is a university in Burkina Faso and has been a cooperation partner of the Institute International Management.

The students succeeded in presenting comprehensive results and concrete recommendations for further action to the Komptech company. Foto © privat

Challenge completed!

The project teams, consisting of five to six students from FH JOANNEUM and one or two students from BIT each, have succeeded in gaining a deep insight into the realities of the African target markets and, above all, the prevailing structures of the waste management industry. The general conditions for the students were more than challenging: a very technology-intensive industry, few available sources and, in addition, a language barrier that existed in some cases. Nevertheless, the students managed to present the Komptech company with comprehensive results and concrete recommendations for further action. And they have shown that they can successfully put their theoretical knowledge into practice.

FH JOANNEUM is distinguished by the practical relevance of its teaching, and the Institute of International Management is pleased to welcome further start-ups, SMEs and corporations as cooperation partners for project courses in the Bachelor’s degree programme in “Management of International Business Processes”. Many of the graduates start their career with one of the practice-based companies.